This is the joint website of Women Against Rape and Black Women's Rape Action Project. Both organisations are based on self-help and provide support, legal information and advocacy. We campaign for justice and protection for all women and girls, including asylum seekers, who have suffered sexual, domestic and/or racist violence.

WAR was founded in 1976. It has won changes in the law, such as making rape in marriage a crime, set legal precedents and achieved compensation for many women. BWRAP was founded in 1991. It focuses on getting justice for women of colour, bringing out the particular discrimination they face. It has prevented the deportation of many rape survivors. Both organisations are multiracial.

False allegations or miscarriages of justice?

The prosecution of "Sarah", jailed for making a "false retraction" after years of maritalrape and abuse, screams injustice (She accused her husband of rape – and ended up in jail, 27 November). Why was she prosecuted? Why wasn't her sentence quashed? And why can't her rapist husband, who kept the children and the flat, be prosecuted now before he reoffends?

Women who drop rape allegations because of fear are being prosecuted. Our new guide is needed more than ever.
Lisa Longstaff

guardian.co.uk Comment is free, Tuesday 9 November 2010 14.04 GMT

The imprisonment of a woman in Wales for withdrawing rape allegations against her husband is a nightmarish addition to the discrimination awaiting women and girls who seek justice after suffering rape and sexual assault.

Just 6.5% of reported rapes end up with a rape conviction (and 87% end with no conviction at all). Stalking, threats to kill and further assaults are common from violent men who have been reported, especially when they have had a relationship with the victim. Two women a week are killed by partners and ex-partners. Many other women commit suicide to end the terrorism they face.

We are glad the government has been forced to back down on the proposal to give anonymity to men accused of rape. Since the day it was announced we publicly opposed the proposal, and the fury of women all over the country has snowballed, including among many journalists and MPs.

Why should men accused of rape have special protection not offered to those facing charges of murder, terrorism or child abuse? People are no more likely to be falsely accused of rape than of other crimes. Why this attempt to further discredit and discriminate against rape survivors?

The proposal to give the accused anonymity was already putting more rape survivors off reporting.

"As a mother separated from children, partner and dogs, it's like a living hell. Worrying about what's going on at home, running the home from far away. My partner lost it big time yesterday, he's really struggling. People say let them get on with their lives but I can't. Everything in the home was pivotal around me and they all ask me for advice and guidance on what they should do next. Tell them what to feed the puppies, how to fix the internet . . . I've had my youngest girl sobbing down the phone. All I can do is talk them through it. My partner tells me I mustn't cry because it upsets him.

I am allowed to hug them when they visit, when they first come in, but not after that. My family get sniffed by the drug dog – we've got 20 dogs at home so of course the drug dogs sniff them! Then we were told we were being watched for drugs for the whole visit. Same happened with two of my friends – they've both got dogs too."

Anonymity for men accused of rape was introduced in 1976 but reversed in 1988 because it hampered police investigations. The proposal to reintroduce it relies on the sexist myth that women are quick to lie about rape.

Nothing is further from the truth. It is extremely hard for women to report rape, and 90 per cent never do. Those who report often say it was to protect others. But many are disbelieved or dismissed by police and prosecutors and even urged to withdraw – no wonder the conviction rate for reported rape remains 6.5 per cent.

On 4th March 2010, Gail Sherwood, a 52-year-old mother of three, was sentenced to two years in prison for falsely claiming she had been harassed and raped by an unknown stranger. Women Against Rape has been supporting Gail for over 18 months and throughout her six-week trial. We are convinced that she is innocent. So are over 70 of her friends and family who wrote to the judge: “We have always found Gail to be kind, intelligent, well-balanced, and above all honest... [She] had no reason to jeopardise her family life with her daughters, her partner, her dogs and her livelihood by making up something that did not happen...”